Former Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer laid to rest
In a funeral attended by the leaders of the nation past and present, the former minister of defense and coordinator of government activities in the territories was laid to rest in Holon; amongst his eulogizers were Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former President Shimon Peres.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Benjamin "Fuad" Ben-Eliezer was laid to rest on Tuesday afternoon at the Holon Cemetery. The former minister of defense died of complications from kidney disease on Sunday.
Amongst the thousands who came to pay their respects were Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former President Shimon Peres; Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein (Likud), Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu); Minister of Health Rabbi Yakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism); Leader of the Opposition Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union), Zionist Union MKs Hilik Bar, Eitan Broshi, Eitan Cabel, Nachman Shai and Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin; and former ministers Moshe Shahal and Yitzhak Mordechai
He was eulogized by his wife, Dolly and one of his sons, Yariv, inter alia, though his son, Ofir Ben-Eliezer, who resides abroad, did not come to the funeral, fearing that he would be detained in an investigation into his late father.
Before the funeral, Dolly recounted how the two met: "He came to comfort me after my first husband was killed in the Six-Day War. I opened the door, I saw him, and I felt like I was struck by lightning…We had a wild love between us. I'm sure that he would have been happy to see that so many people came to bid him farewell. At that moment, I knew that my life was going to change."
Netanyahu was first to speak at the ceremony itself, and he praised the deceased's military career. He added, "I loved Fuad…He wasn't without his weaknesses; we can't say that about anybody here, but there was in him the continuing truth of a Jewish child who immigrated to Israel from Iraq and remembered the sight of Jews hanged from utility poles and understood the significance of Israel's rebirth. So I loved Fuad, just as you loved him."
At the funeral's conclusion, the song "B'Sayeret Shaked" was played, which was the name of the unit that Ben-Eliezer commanded during the Six-Day War.
Peres eulogized, "You are deeply rooted in the fields of Israel. You build her ways. You defended her borders and communities. You were a man of the people—a man with friends. We came to bid you farewell, representatives of all the friends, from the right, from the left, religious and secular, friends from every denomination and political party, representatives of the various faiths.
"We came to say 'thank you' for your contribution to the security of the state, the seeds of hope that you spread, your humanity, a firm handshake. May your memory be a blessing."
